Canada Loves Online Video, Too

Quick: What are the first three things that come to mind when you think about Canada? How about universal health care, maple syrup and… online video? A new study from Ipsos Reid and M Consulting shows that Canadians are just as much in love with watching video on the web as everyone else. According to the survey, 80 percent of all Canadians said that they watch some online video content, and 41 percent watch online video more than once a week.

Predictably, online video viewing is highest amongst younger folks, with close to 100 percent of all Canadians between 18 and 24 saying that they watch video content online. 76 percent of these youngsters said they watch online video at least once a week. However, don’t discount Canadian seniors, as 68 percent of all Canadians over 55 are tuning in online.

What are Canadians watching online, you might ask? 65 percent of respondents stated that their preferred genre for online entertainment is comedy, according to M Consulting. However, they’re not into cheap jokes: 49 percent said that the biggest downside of online content is its low production quality.

Canadians have long lamented that they’ve been shut out of much of the more professional U.S. online video offerings, with web sites like Hulu.com and most of the U.S. broadcasters simply denying them any access. However, Netflix recently moved up north with an online-only subscription that actually offered Canadians features like disc-free PS3 streaming and the new Netflix Wii interface first.